The present invention relates to safety devices and more particularly to safety devices which are luminous or light-reflective and are adapted to be worn by a person or animal, such devices being detachable and selectively interchangably worn.
The hazards inherent in the crossing of thoroughfares at night or during inclement weather are well known. Pedestrians are frequently not seen or are only dimly perceptible by motorists under such conditions. They are often the victims of vehicular accidents as a consequence of such conditions of poor visibility. Owners of pet animals, as is well known, customarily walk such animals during hours of dusk and darkness and, therefore, are especially vulnerable to accidents as they walk along the roadside. Similarly, joggers are generally found plodding their way along the roadway in the early morning and evening hours of dusk and darkness as well as at other times when conditions of poor visibility prevail. It will also be appreciated that young children often walk to school or wait for buses along the sides of streets and highways under the same hazardous conditions described above. Due to their immaturity and innocence they constitute a substantial proportion of the traffic accident statistics compiled each year. To date there are no safety devices available which are portable interchangable, and which will afford the desired degree of protection for these persons and their pet animals.
It has already been known to provide construction workers, traffic policemen, crossing guards and the like, who perform their services along roadways, with a variety of safety equipment. Typical are the luminous jackets and gloves, sashes, flashing and rotating warning lights and lanterns intended to alert passing motorists of their presence. To some extent these devices have served to reduce the frequency of vehicular accidents involving such persons. However, such safety equipment is either expensive, must be maintained in a fixed location, or cannot be employed interchangably in different situations. Thus, there does not exist a safety device which can be worn interchangably by a jogger, an individual walking in the rain carrying an umbrella, a person walking his pet animal, or by a pet animal, all of whom are often exposed to the risk of personal injury as outlined above.